When a Cyclist Sues a Group Ride

It’s not so unusual for an injured cyclist to sue a driver in the event of a car-bike crash, or to seek damages over obstructions that can cause riders serious harm. But a cyclist filing suit against other cyclists? That’s rare indeed, especially when the plaintiff is taking on an entire group ride.

Adrian Goldstein, a pathologist from San Mateo, California, crashed on a January 2017 run of the Spectrum Ride, a longtime weekly event in the Bay Area known for its high speeds and competitive atmosphere. According to a lawsuit he would file later, Goldstein was knocked unconscious and suffered facial fractures, as well as other injuries to the head and neck, that caused “some permanent disability” and interfered with his medical practice.

He also alleges that the crash happened because of the “negligence, carelessness, and unlawfulness” of Michael Jacques, a Portola Valley resident and fellow ride participant. In May, Goldstein sued Jacques, along with 25 other unidentified cyclists on the ride, seeking $1 million in damages. The lawsuit claims Jacques lost control of his bike and careened into Goldstein, throwing him from his Trek and directly causing his injuries.

Neither Goldstein nor Jacques responded to requests for comment. Other riders who witnessed the crash also declined to go on the record, as they will most likely be added to the lawsuit as defendants. It’s unclear at this time why Goldstein is suing so many other riders beyond Jaques. When asked about this, Goldstein’s lawyer, Ralph Zappala, refused to answer, saying he needed to clear the question with his client.

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Goldstein’s case will likely hinge on how the law views the Spectrum Ride itself. Named after a long-closed bike shop in Sunnyvale, California, the ride began in the mid-1980s. Known as a “show-and-go” or “racer” ride, it has a simple format: Anyone can show up and then, at a prearranged time, they go.

And they go fast, with speeds sometimes exceeding 30 mph on the flats. It’s a quasi-race, basically, and attracts everyone from accomplished roadies to more casual riders who never before biked so fast in such close quarters. Unlike in most sanctioned races, the roads are not closed to vehicles and all traffic rules apply. But one thing it does have in common with official races: Riders will often hit the pavement.

“People go into the red sometimes. They go past their limits.”

“If you go on that kind of ride, you have to accept [crashing],” Charles Ho, a frequent Spectrum participant, told Bicycling. “It is part of riding fast. People go into the red sometimes. They go past their limits. You should be able to avoid that, but if you do crash it’s just part of the ride.”

Mark Richard, one of the ride’s original founders, acknowledged that crashing is part of the event. “You try to stay away from those things the best you can, but they do happen and they happen regularly,” he said. “It’s not a unique incident.”

So if things do go south on a famously crash-prone group ride, where does the accountability fall? Should participants in high-intensity bike rides like the Spectrum have any expectation for emerging unscathed?

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According to Claude Wyle, a San Francisco lawyer who has been litigating bicycle cases for more than 35 years, it all comes down to “implied assumption of risk.” Without any kind of written release—the Spectrum Ride has none—riders may be expected to understand that their participation could reasonably result in injuries.

“You are involved in an athletic event with other people, and you take into account that they might make a mistake,” Wyle said. “The activity has such risk that you would normally assume what you are doing is dangerous. You are doing something that is so risky that you have allowed the other participants to waive the duty to act reasonably.”

“[Crashes] happen regularly. It’s not a unique incident.”

Given the Spectrum Ride’s reputation for speed and pugnacity, there’s a chance the law will find that Goldstein should have assumed his injuries were in the cards.

“If it is just healthy, aggressive competition, I doubt the case will be successful,” Wyle said. He added that if Goldstein can prove Jaques or any of the other riders acted egregiously—“an extreme departure from what a normal cyclist would do in the same situation”—then the lawsuit would have a much better shot at success.

Additionally, Wyle said, if Goldstein can demonstrate “want of scant care”—basically, if he can prove that Jacques and the other riders don’t care about what happened—he’d have a stronger case.

It’s still early in the legal proceedings, and Jacques doesn’t yet have a lawyer, so it’s difficult to say how the case will shake out. The Spectrum Ride, meanwhile, will continue to leave from Sunnyvale each Saturday. Participants interviewed for this story said they have no plans on changing the event or how they approach it—although they probably won’t ride with Goldstein if he shows up.

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